Becoming a Pontipee Then and Now
by Ginny-Potter1981
Summary: This story will start a few years before the movie, cover a few parts in the movie and then continue after the couples are married. I always wondered what happened next well here is my take on what happened next.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I always wanted to know what happened to the Pontipee's after the movie ended. Well here is what I think happened. Enjoy.**

**Prologue: Adam POV: **Adam 22, Ben 20, Caleb 18, Dan and Eph. 16, Frank 14 and Gideon 12.

Late Spring: Oregon Territory 1844

Now that my parents are gone I find myself in charge of a farm and six brothers some of whom are not even close to manhood yet but I have the help of Ben and Caleb who are old enough to assist with the younger boys and still get their chores done. Of course parceling out the chores is a chore in and of its self, but I do what I must to keep our family going. It would help if one of us knew how to cook, oh well I guess we will have to learn. After assigning each of us chores to keep the farm going I head out to do my share of the chores. My brothers know there will be consequences if our chores are not completed.

Late Fall: Oregon Territory 1849: Dorcus POV: Adam 27, Ben 25, Caleb 23, Dan and Eph 21, Frank 19 and Gideon 17. Milly 21, Dorcus 19, Ruth 19, Martha 18, Liza 18, Sarah 17, and Alice 15.

After living here for about three months, I still find it strange living in a new land everything is different from living back east. I made my first new friend today her name is Milly she was orphaned on her trip out here, and works as a cook at the local tavern. I was afraid to make friends at first fearing they would find me strange and different from what they are used to out in the middle of nowhere but Milly told me that she was new herself a couple of years ago and the towns folk were very welcoming. Soon I meet Ruth, Martha, Liza, Sarah and Alice and with Milly and I completing our group we become fast friends, all of us very glad we are not the only unmarried women in town not that we do not wish to marry but it is nice having friends our own ages and not so busy with married life that we cannot spend time together. Some of the men in town who are courting us tend to forget that we have our own feelings and can make up our own minds who we wish to marry.

Liza POV:

My uncle moved us to Oregon Territory about five years ago after the death of my parents. Oregon Territory is very different from Kansas though the winters are sometimes not as hard or bitterly cold and it is much easier to walk down the streets here then it is to walk across the prairie grasses in Kansas. It took some getting used to when we first arrived, Ruth, Martha and Sarah all lived here their entire lives so are used to the bitterly cold winters and spring coming late and only lasting a couple of months before a warm summer. My uncle runs the post office here in town and to help out I became the school teacher although it took a little bit to convince the older boys in the class room that I am not a teacher to meddle with, I even had to take a ruler and spank the oldest boy in class before he would treat myself and the other students in class with respect, not that there are many pupils at this time but if even one child wishes to learn then I will be available to teach them.

I made a new friend today her name is Dorcus she has just recently arrived from the east and is now getting used to living in a new place. I remember when I first arrived I worried about making friends so I will introduce her to the girls. Dorcus became fast friends with the rest of us and I agree with Dorcus it would be nice to have a different choice in men to be courted by, some of the men in town I would rather live a spinster then marry, but uncle and aunt are pushing me to marry. They say a woman has no right to stay single and that the country needs to be settled, I think they have been listening to Reverend and Mrs. Elcott too long personally although their daughter Alice is a very sweet girl. I am very excited for a visit from my older brother that is long overdue in coming he has been promising he would visit every year for the last three years he is due to arrive in the next couple of days.

Alice POV:

I made the acquaintance of a new girl just moved here to town Dorcus seems to be a very nice young woman and I remember how I felt two years ago when father moves mother and I here to this new town he told us that the towns folk needed religion and it was his duty to bring us here to administer to his new flock. The first friends I made when I moved to Oregon Territory were Ruth, Martha and Sarah who were born here they helped me get settled in and introduced me to Liza who had been here only a couple years longer than we have. Not long after we arrived a young woman by the name of Milly arrived she was orphaned on the way here, and my parents pretty much adopted her, so in a way I got an older sister to share things with. Milly works as a cook over at the local tavern so she can be mostly independent, half the men in town married or not are in love with her and she does not seem to be interested in anyone in particular.

It is time to get ready for another bitterly cold and hard winter but having lived here for the last couple of years I think I am starting to get used to it now. I hope Dorcus settles in soon because winter is beautiful here in Oregon but it is much different than winter in the east. I remember my first winter here I was unprepared for how cold and lonely it would be.

Late winter/early spring: Oregon Territory 1850: Adam POV.

We have been starving on our own cooking now for 6 years and the house is a pigsty it is time one of us marries and brings a feminine touch to the place. So I make up my mind that next time I go into town to trade I will bring myself back a wife. It might as well be me as the oldest who marries. Little did I know marrying Milly would bring about many changes in my life and that of my brothers.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Here is the next chapter. Enjoy.**

**Ch. 1: **

Alice POV:

It has been a long month; since Milly married the oldest Pontipee brother Adam and went to live out in the mountains with him. It turns out he has six brothers as well. The last time Milly came to town she had all six brothers with her and there was a fight in front of the Bixby store, apparently one of the brothers did not know that offering a chaw of tobacco to a woman was offensive, and some of the towns men took insult from it. When Milly went outside to try to stop the fight she asked the brother I would soon learn was called Frank asked "what fer there's only three little ones." So Milly grabbed the arm of the biggest brother, he was the one fighting and told him to stop it. So with three hits it was stopped.

The brother that was escorting Milly seemed to be the youngest and he seemed to be the sweetest as well. It is time for the barn raising and I cannot help wonder if Milly will come with her new family. I miss Milly so much and am hoping to get to see her. As I am thinking these thoughts a wagon pulls up with Milly and her new family in it. I pull away from Matt and rush to see Milly, upon reaching the wagon I throw myself into Milly's arms and hug her.

The youngest brother whom I learn is called Gideon treats me well and we soon see that Milly showed her brothers how to dance and they are trying to court us. After the dancing the brothers form a team to help with the barn raising, though the towns folk who are jealous of the brothers and the attention they are giving us decide to pick fights with the brothers. After Matt attacks the oldest brother Adam, he finally pushes Gideon beyond his breaking point and a huge fight ensues when it is over only the brothers are left standing. I know the fighting upset Milly but I can understand why the boys were fighting too, the towns men were clearly out for blood but the brothers get blamed for the fight instead of Matt, Carl, Harry and the other men who started it.

A few months after the barn raising: Dorcus POV:

After the fight at the barn raising the town turned against the Pontipee brothers, I remember how nice Ben was and how he and his brothers did not start the fight but they finished it, though Milly was not happy about it. As I get ready for bed I have no idea that my life is about to change drastically, I lean over to blow out the candle and feel myself pulled through the window, I let out a scream and worry for my little sister who would light the candle only to find out I was gone. I feel myself thrown over a strong shoulder and a couple of minutes later deposited in what feels like a wagon, and hear a deep voice I am sure I have heard some place before say "lets go."

I hear the other girls screaming as well and soon find out that the Pontipee brothers have kidnapped us, we scream until I hear Adam say "make them stop that yelling we are coming to the pass, keep em quiet now or we will have an avalanche down on us" at these words I feel Ben's hand cover my mouth to keep me from screaming, though I am not sure I would want to scream after hearing what Adam said. Ben says "hurry up Adam I can hear them coming" when we are part way across the pass. When we reach the other side the brothers release our mouths and pull guns, they shoot them off while we scream, soon the pass is filled with snow from the avalanche our screaming and their shooting caused.

Milly was furious when she found out they kidnapped us, and banished the brothers to the barn. While I am angry about being kidnapped I do feel kind of bad for the brothers as the barn has to be very cold, Milly says she will take them extra blankets and food after she gets us settled in, Gideon comes to the door while she is serving us tea, asking her to talk to Adam whom it seems is heading deeper into the mountains to the trapping cabin. Milly refuses saying "he has to learn he cannot treat people this way."

Milly offers me some cloth to make some dresses out of as I was taken in my night clothes, I really appreciate her giving me the items for clothing and I spend the night and most of the next day sewing myself some dresses.

A few days later: Ben POV:

I find myself very angry with Liza and Martha they dumped cold water and Eph and Dan and could have caused them to get Pneumonia, luckily for them and us Eph and Dan got inside and got changed into warm clothing quickly and Milly and Dorcus brought extra blankets with them to make sure they did not catch cold. I feel horrible about kidnapping Dorcus especially because I found out that we did not have clothing for the girls and that as I grabbed her in only her night dress that is what she has to wear, it is a good thing Milly had cloth to offer her or she would not have anything to wear. I also worry that she will get sick being outside as she does not have a jacket to keep her warm like we do. I overheard her and Milly talking about how it is much colder here than when she is from back east. I have apologized for my part in kidnapping her and explained how I should not have listened to Adam's idea on how to marry her. I know the town folk would never have let me court her and explain that to her as well but I should have gone about getting her to marry me a different way. I was overjoyed when she said she forgave me and started meeting me outside near the fence for a few minutes every evening to talk and get to know each other. I always insist she wears my coat though it is huge on her, until she makes it back to the house. Once I know she is safely back inside where it is warm I then make my way to the barn.

End of winter the beginning of Spring: Ben POV:

My brothers soon apologize as well and while it takes a bit for them to be forgiven soon all of us find out that Milly is going to have a baby. The girls have pretty much taken over her chores and I find out that Dorcus is a wonderful cook when she brings us out dinner one night. Soon spring is upon us and we have grown very close to the girls, when Milly has the baby, a little girl. Gideon told us that Adam would only come back when the pass is open. So as we are enjoying the night playing musical chairs, Adam walking in the door surprises us. We do as he asks and get the wagon ready only to find out he is taking our girls back to their families. He points out that if we fight all the towns folk who come to get the girls back we would be fighting their fathers and brothers, they would never marry us after that, Milly comes rushing up to us saying that the girls have run away. Filled with worry we start our search for our girls.

A few minutes later when the reverend asks whose baby he heard at the house: Liza POV:

I really cannot believe that our fathers, uncles and brothers have not done the math to figure out whose baby is at the house. But since we do not wish to go back to town we wish to stay with our men, we look at each other and answer at the same time "mine." You would think they would have remember that Milly is married and the baby has the best chance of being hers but no they have to think the worst of us and the guys. But our statement of mine serves its purpose and we find ourselves very quickly married. Ephraim's kiss melts my bones and I find myself glad his strong arms are around me or I would melt into a puddle on the floor. After a short celebration and our men getting to know our families it is soon bed time. Let's just say we didn't sleep for a while that night and we discovered the joys of married life.

We also had to figure out where everyone was going to live since 6 married couples could not share one small room. By the end of summer each of us had our own house built even if it was only a one bedroom cabin to start with. Also with the farm now having to support 15 people Adam and the guys sat down to decide how much more they were going to plant and grow and whether we can afford to buy more land for the farm to sustain us all.


End file.
